Developer, city engineer debate lien agreement

A contentious item re-emerged Tuesday at the planning commission as a developer discussed setting aside certain conditions that hinder the development of a tract of land in the College Heights area.

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By Jack BarnwellCITY EDITORjbarnwell@ridgecrestca.com

Ridgecrest Daily Independent - Ridgecrest, CA

By Jack BarnwellCITY EDITORjbarnwell@ridgecrestca.com

Posted Aug. 30, 2013 at 6:01 PM

By Jack BarnwellCITY EDITORjbarnwell@ridgecrestca.com

Posted Aug. 30, 2013 at 6:01 PM

A contentious item re-emerged Tuesday at the planning commission as a developer discussed setting aside certain conditions that hinder the development of a tract of land in the College Heights area.

"This tract has a long history of review by both the planning commission and the city council," City Engineer Loren Culp said in giving his staff report.

Culp detailed some of the background for the land, owned by developer Neil Christman. Culp said that one section of the land has already been completed, with 18 homes built.

Two more sections await for the ground to be broken and houses to be built.

Culp said the only roadblock is a requirement imposed by the city to install street improvements on Warner Street, which remains little more than a strip of unpaved land in the middle of the desert.

Previous ideas to vacate an existing right of way on Warner Street proved unviable, Culp said.

A provision in the city's municipal code allows for a possible deferment of street improvements by placing a deferred lien on the land.

"The lien will ride with the land," Culp said. He added that when the time came to develop Warner Street, the city would come knocking on the land owner's door to pony up the money.

However, Culp said that Christman had found some conditions of the prepared lien agreement to "be onerous" to comply with.

When Christman asked for a waiver for street improvements Warner Street , Culp said it was unlikely. He added only the council could authorize a waiver.

"The municipal code clearly requires street improvements as a result of land division," Culp said.

Culp added that at the present time, the city had no desire to see Warner Street developed.

Christman, present at the commission meeting, said that a contractor was ready and waiting to break ground on the second phase of development, but debated the need for the road improvements.

"If you put on the requirements for Warner Street, development becomes uneconomical to pursue," Christman said.

Warner Street, he said, would be a halfway street that would end up truncated on both ends.

"To me it ends in the middle of nowhere," Christman said. "The city would be responsible for the maintenance of the road once it is put in."

Christman said the city initially had a desire to build the road because of a previous plan to develop the land, but that developer went bankrupt.

"I think the need to develop that road is way off in the future, if it is at all needed," Christman said. "If it were put in now, it would be in such poor condition that by the time it is needed, it would be more of a problem."

Page 2 of 3 - Christman said that waiving or deferring road conditions without onerous roadblocks would be the wise course of action. He added that there was a remainder parcel — a strip of land deemed not part of the current development plan— that could later pay for the part of the required street improvements in the future.

Christman said one resolution to avoid future encumbrance on whoever picked up the remainder parcel would be to transform the strip of land into a fourth subdivision and market it in such a way that it would pay for the Warner Street improvements.

City Planner Matthew Alexander said the land near Christman's planned community had an active tract map and anticipated likely development in the future.

“While we recognize that it is not absolutely critical to pave the street at this point, we certainly think it is important that it happens,” Alexander said.

Culp, the city engineer, said that the most viable option available at the moment remained the deferred lien agreement.

Christman said the deferred lien agreement drafted up by the city attorney's office was unfair and inaccurate, especially since it required Christman to obtain a bond.

“The reason we do a lien agreement is to avoid the need for a bond,” Christman said. “I cannot get a bond because they are very difficult to get.”

Christman added that the legal agreement appeared to allow the city to call on the developer to design the street prior to the city signing it.

Additionally, Christman indicated that the agreement allowed the city to call on the developer to fulfill the requirement to develop Warner at any time.

“To me, it appears that I would give up a lot of my property rights,” Christman said.

Culp did not budge on the bonding issue, stating it was a standard requirement for any land development.

“The reason is because the land divider contracts with a contractor to construct the street improvements, and the city wants to ensure the funds are available to complete those improvements,” Culp said.

He said one example of not having a secured lien existed on Rader Street, which has incomplete improvements.

Christman expressed frustration over what he called onerous requirements, citing that they had not been required under the now-deceased Joe Pollock's, the previous city engineer, tenure.

“A Big Problem”

“The city is headed toward a big problem with all of its developers,” Christman said. “The way we did it in the past is that we put in all the improvements, the city inspects them and the tract map is signed off.”

He said with Culp's approach, the city would see much less development.

Page 3 of 3 - Culp acknowledged that past standards in the city had been relaxed under Pollock's tenure.

“Developments have not complied with the municipal code (in the past),” Culp noted.

However, he guaranteed the planning commission one thing: adherence to the municipal code.

“I assure you, that as the city engineer, you will see that all tract maps I am involved in will remain in compliance to the municipal code,” Culp said.